Author Archives: CapitalBabs

GameChat – White Sox @ Twins #3, 1:10pm

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Hello from Hrbek’s at Gate 14!!! JC and Babs (and Andrew, Baby Margaret and Molly) are enjoying a Happy Birthday celebration for KL!

It’s an absolutely stunning day for baseball and I hope that we’re able to gift KL with a sweep of the White Sox. Wouldn’t that be just the perfect birthday present? I think so.

Chi White Sox Minnesota
Eaton, CF Santana, D, SS
Beckham, G, 2B Dozier, 2B
Gillaspie, 3B Mauer, DH
Abreu, 1B Morales, K, 1B
Dunn, A, DH Arcia, O, RF
Ramirez, Al, SS Suzuki, K, C
Viciedo, RF Parmelee, LF
De Aza, LF Escobar, E, 3B
Nieto, C Fuld, CF
  Rienzo, P   Correia, P
  1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Chi White Sox 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 9 0
Minnesota 0 1 0 0 3 0 0 0 x 4 9 2

man, what an absolutely beautiful day for baseball.. We all had a warm but wonderful time and the Twins were very generous to the series win for KL.

There was some really awkward ways to get on base today though. Walked in runs, hit batter walked in runs.. it was entertaining. It was a fun bit of small ball actually!

I think the most exciting inning of the game however was the 5th – and the return of Joe Mauer. He hit a patented double to knock in a pair of runs and then, crossed home plate himself on a single by Morales. That was all we needed to get the win – which is good because we didn’t get any more. The pitching kind of tried to give it up and Perkins made us all flash back to last night when he gave up one of the cushion runs but he held on and kept the Save instead of hoping they’d give him the Win. But since Josh Willingham’s kid as the Jr. PA didn’t actually improve the score and Mauer made the win possible, he is today’s BOD! I hope you’re actually back to stay this time.JOEMAUER

 

GameChat – White Sox @ Twins #2, 7:10pm

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ok, it’s finally not raining in Minnesota!!! This is especially joyous for me as the carpet from my two basement bedrooms are currently laid out in my driveway hopefully drying enough to continue to be used as temporary floor covering until we decide what the permanent replacement will be. Oh yeah and everything else that was in those two rooms in now removed and piled elsewhere while we attempt to dry out..  Just so much water in this state right now.

All that being said, it’s a hot but beautiful day for baseball in Minnesota. Let’s see if the boys can make use of that hot, humid air to let some long balls carry a ways!

Chi White Sox @ Minnesota
Eaton, CF Santana, D, SS
Beckham, G, 2B Dozier, 2B
Gillaspie, 3B Mauer, 1B
Abreu, 1B Willingham, LF
Dunn, A, DH Morales, K, DH
Ramirez, Al, SS Suzuki, K, C
Viciedo, RF Arcia, O, RF
De Aza, LF Escobar, E, 3B
Flowers, C Fuld, CF
  Noesi, P   Nolasco, P
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Chi White Sox 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 4 10 0
Minnesota 0 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 5 7 0

Man, Glen Perkins owes the team a steak dinner… They pulled his butt out of an ignominious post-game lockerroom walk of shame.

beerchoiceThat being said, game long highlight player was really Kurt Suzuki! wow, did he ever perform – great defense and great hit leadership! That absolutely perfect pickoff to 2B was a thing of beauty for defense-lovers. For that, the beer is on us! Whatever you want.

Escobar also provided some hefty help to this team with timely RBI but the MOST timely RBI, of course, is the walk-off hit from Brian Dozier. After the 2 run lead melted away during Perkins’ 9th inning meltdown, it was hard to keep the optimism up but out came the Bull Dozier to pull it all back together in what has become a very consistent level of performance from him which should absolutely get him an All Star game slot. But for the more local honorifics, we just call BOD!

Brian Dozier
Brian Dozier

GameChat – Twins @ Red Sox #3, 12:35pm

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yeah… I’m work.. you probably are too. But for those lucky few who have the opportunity to catch a little baseball today, here you go!

Minnesota @ Boston
Santana, D, CF Holt, RF
Dozier, 2B Bogaerts, 3B
Mauer, 1B Pedroia, 2B
Willingham, LF Ortiz, D, DH
Morales, K, DH Napoli, 1B
Parmelee, RF Nava, LF
Escobar, E, 3B Pierzynski, C
Fryer, C Drew, SS
Florimon, SS Bradley Jr., CF
  Gibson, P   Lackey, P
  1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Minnesota 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 4
Boston 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 3

it was unanimously decided that pitching duels just aren’t as much fun to watch in the box score… doesn’t help when you lose. *grumble*

GameChat – Twins @ Red Sox #2, 6:10pm

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So I didn’t see last night’s game and I hear mixed reports about how it went.. box score tells the only story that really matters though.. *sigh*

Tonight my requests are few and I may get to hear some of it on the radio:

  1. Hughes to pitch a solid road outing that keeps us in the game regardless
  2. Actual offensive production enough to allow our pitchers room to maneuver
  3. Ortiz & Gomes to decide they don’t really want to play against the Twins tonight..

Ok, so that last one probably isn’t going to happen and if we do #1 & #2 right, #3 isn’t necessary.

Minnesota @ Boston
Santana, D, SS Holt, CF
Dozier, 2B Bogaerts, 3B
Mauer, 1B Pedroia, 2B
Willingham, LF Ortiz, D, DH
Morales, K, DH Napoli, 1B
Arcia, O, RF Nava, RF
Suzuki, K, C Gomes, J, LF
Escobar, E, 3B Drew, SS
Fuld, CF Ross, D, C
  Hughes, P, P   Lester, P
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Minnesota 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 4 0
Boston 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 x 2 8 0

Again, I didn’t see this game, but the box score looks disturbingly similar to Monday night’s.

Phil Hughes throws a complete game and gives up just a couple of runs and you can’t get a win. At least he gave the bullpen a rest, I guess.

The Twins have now been outscored 3-1 in the last two games combined. – JC

GameChat – Twins @ Tigers #3, 12:08pm

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ok.. sorry this wasn’t up earlier if you were here looking. Rubber match games are always interesting so while I’m moving a piano, let’s see if the boys can pull off a series win in Detroit!

Minnesota Detroit
Santana, D, SS Kinsler, 2B
Mauer, 1B Hunter, To, RF
Dozier, 2B Cabrera, M, 1B
Willingham, LF Martinez, V, DH
Morales, K, DH Martinez, J, LF
Arcia, O, RF Jackson, A, CF
Suzuki, K, C Castellanos, N, 3B
Fuld, CF Avila, C
Escobar, E, 3B Suarez, SS
  Nolasco, P   Porcello, P
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Minnesota 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 3 7 1
Detroit 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 4 10 0

Tough way to lose a game to a Divisional rival as the Tigers take the game and the series in walk-off fashion. – JC

GameChat – Twins @ Tigers #2, 3:08pm

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This is one of those rainy (in MN) Saturday’s where I’m doing my best to get some outdoor work done despite the rain. Actually my whole weekend is like that so I’m REALLY glad I got to see that fantastic game last night. I’ll be checking in and catching as much as possible on the radio. Let’s do this!

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Minnesota 0 1 0 0 0 0 3 3 2 9 12 0
Detroit 0 0 7 1 2 1 1 0 x 12 19 1

Looks like the Twins’ bats woke up in the 7th, but it was too little, too late. – JC

GameChat – Twins @ Tigers, 6:08pm

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I have to admit that I’m really interested to see how this series goes – it could be a bell-weather of the whole season. Both teams are kind of at a cross-roads with one on the upswing (I hope) and one sagging (so it appears).

Any predictions?

Roster update: Hicks is on the DL, Fuld is back and the Twins recalled Eric Fryer.

I’m also really interested to see how this new lineup order works AND how it gets adjusted when Dozier is back swinging a bat.

Minnesota @ Detroit
Santana, D, CF Kinsler, 2B
Suzuki, K, C Jackson, A, CF
Mauer, 1B Cabrera, M, 1B
Willingham, LF Martinez, V, DH
Morales, K, DH Martinez, J, RF
Arcia, O, RF Kelly, D, LF
Plouffe, 3B Castellanos, N, 3B
Nunez, SS Avila, C
Escobar, E, 2B Romine, A, SS
  Gibson, P   Smyly, P
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Minnesota 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 4 1
Detroit 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 1

wow, that was actually a fun game to watch!

Of course it doesn’t hurt that we won but there were a lot of positives tonight – not the least of which is beating a division opponent and making progress back towards that .500 mark. We didn’t have a LOT of offense but getting that home run in the third from Escobar set up the win well. Only his 2nd HR of the year because he’s not a power hitter but I’ll take it regardless. And getting a walk off Joe Nathan in the 9th inning isn’t as hard as it used to be but it’s still nothing to sneeze at, especially when that walk sent in an additional cushion run! All your RBI’s are belong to Eduardo! I hope he enjoys the All-You-Can-Eat pastry buffet on us.

It turned out to be all that was necessary because Kyle really did a fantastic job tonight. And it wasn’t one of those “no one can touch him” kind of good jobs either. It was a night where he wasn’t perfect and figured out how to get the job done anyway – in some very big situations. He made life hard for himself in both the 5th and 7th innings and Gardy left him out there to figure it out. Had it all gone sour, we’d have been screaming that he once again left him in one pitch too long but I think it does a lot for a young pitcher to make it or break it on his own and we’ll be the better for it in the long run. This was an important game for Kyle because he statistically hasn’t done well on the road and he broke that “curse” tonight. With the 7 scoreless innings tonight, that is 15 consecutive for him without giving up a run. The bullpen was SOLID against this Tigers lineup with both Casey and Glenn putting out excellent innings but tonight was really all about Kyle and for that, he’s today’s BOD!

Kyle Gibson (photo: MiLB.com)
Kyle Gibson (photo: MiLB.com)

GameChat – Twins @ Blue Jays #2, 6:07pm

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Another night where I don’t get to watch baseball.. I’ll be trying to catch scores and updates and plays during breaks and car rides.. wish I could enjoy the game since they didn’t do so well for the day I got to watch yesterday.. but I’ll take a win regardless tonight!

Let’s see how quickly Kendrys can settle in!

Minnesota @ Toronto
Santana, D, CF Reyes, SS
Dozier, 2B Cabrera, Me, LF
Mauer, 1B Bautista, RF
Willingham, LF Encarnacion, 1B
Morales, K, DH Lind, DH
Arcia, O, RF Lawrie, 2B
Nunez, 3B Navarro, D, C
Suzuki, K, C Francisco, J, 3B
Escobar, E, SS Gose, CF
  Correia, P   Happ, P
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Minnesota 2 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 4 9 0
Toronto 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 1

Not having seen or heard the game, I’m going to simply give the BOD award to Brian Dozier for his first inning two-run home run, but four pitchers combining for a shutout of the Jays certainly warrants honorable mention! – JC

Brian Dozier
Brian Dozier

GameChat – Astros @ Twins, 7:10pm

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This will be interesting to see if it stays dry throughout gameplay – let’s hope that the storms hold off long enough.

I think Arcia is still day to day and I hope that is fewer days than more.

Houston @ Minnesota
Fowler, CF Santana, D, DH
Altuve, 2B Dozier, 2B
Springer, RF Mauer, 1B
Castro, Ja, C Willingham, LF
Dominguez, 3B Plouffe, 3B
Singleton, 1B Kubel, RF
Carter, DH Suzuki, K, C
Grossman, LF Escobar, E, SS
Gonzalez, M, SS Hicks, CF
  Keuchel, P   Hughes, P, P
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Houston 0 0 1 1 0 3 0 0 0 5 8 2
Minnesota 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 1 0 4 10 0

It’s unfortunate that these late comeback attempts keep falling just a little short. Need to start winning some of these. – JC